Code of Silence: Witnesses often scared, but can make the difference

It drives Ruth Slauenwhite crazy when someone who helps the police is dismissively labelled a rat. She thinks angel would be more appropriate for whoever it was that helped her family and the police by coming forward with information about the November 2011 disappearance and killing of her daughter, 20-year-old Melissa Peacock of Dartmouth.

Two brothers from Kennetcook — Dustan Joseph Preeper and Joshua Michael Preeper — face first-degree murder charges in connection to her death. Dustan Preeper also faces a second-degree murder charge in the July 2010 death of Ben Hare in Truro.

Slauenwhite, whose family used to live in north-end Dartmouth but has since moved to Shearwater, heard from an investigator that they’d got a good lead in the case in the spring of 2012.

Melissa Peacock (CONTRIBUTED)

“She just said that … somebody called in with a tip and said that it was moving the investigation forward pretty quickly. Within a month it was done.”

“I don’t know if this person is a witness,” she said of the as-yet unidentified informant. “I’m not sure what part this person plays in it. I’m hoping to be able to see this person one day in person and, I guess, say thank you.”

The challenge of getting some witnesses, who are often frightened for their own safety or feel conflicted for other reasons, to talk can often be a big stumbling block in major investigations.

The arrests in the Peacock killing were the first of their kind in Nova Scotia. It was the first time charges were laid through the Justice Department’s Rewards for Unsolved Crimes Program, which was launched in October 2006.

The program initially offered up to $50,000 for information that led to the arrest and conviction of people responsible for some specified cases. The amount was tripled to $150,000 almost two years later after Justice Department officials met with the sisters of murdered Timberlea schoolteacher Paula Gallant, who asked for improvements to the program.

“It’s a good day for Paula,” her sister, Lynn Gallant-Blackburn, said at the September 2008 announcement. “If the recommendations that we’ve put forward through our learnings from Paula’s murder … help solve another crime and end the pain and put closure on another family’s grief, that would give purpose to Paula’s death.”

Gallant’s former husband was later convicted in her killing, but not through the work of the rewards program.

There have been two other more recent arrests through the program, but the cases are still working their way through the legal system and no payouts have yet been issued. There are currently 77 cases in the program.

Roger Merrick, director of public safety at the Justice Department, said they can go months without getting any calls to the program. The calls that come in are recorded and identities are usually taken, otherwise no money will be offered.

On occasion, some callers won’t leave a name but they will leave information.

He said callers are told how the program works. Informants who are frightened for their safety have to iron out how they’ll be protected with the police, Merrick said.

In cases where there is a conviction, a rewards program informant will be paid in proportion to the value of evidence they provided. For example, he said someone who provides a licence plate number likely would not receive the same amount as a witness to an actual killing. If someone pleads guilty, the informant will still be rewarded because that could have prompted the plea.

“Every case would be taken on its own merits,” he said.

He believes the money makes all the difference in some cases.

“I do not believe that without the incentive of the potential payout on this, that these folks would have come forward.”

Ruth Slauenwhite (ERIC WYNNE / Staff / File)

Slauenwhite agrees.

At the news conference announcing the inclusion of Melissa’s case in the program, she said “money talks” and still believes it is a great incentive. She has no problem if money is the sole reason that someone provides information.

“You can’t put a price on having answers for a missing child.”

She said the information was very difficult to learn and she is currently frustrated by the legal system and trial in her daughter’s case.

However, the informant’s help provided her family with some much-needed closure.

“To even think about going the rest of my life not knowing (what happened to Melissa), I don’t know if I could get out of bed every day.”

Asked if she had a message to her unknown helper, she said, “Enjoy every bit of the money.”

“No matter how much they get, it doesn’t compare to what they’ve done for us.”

Paula Sibley-Fox, the provincial RCMP’s director of strategic communications, said social media can provide another option for people who don’t want to be seen speaking with police.

In one week late in April, the RCMP used their Facebook account to release photos from a break-in and another crime. Members of the public fingered two suspects within hours.

Sibley-Fox said police are still learning the process of gathering useful information this way and are looking at ways to do so in evermore serious cases.

“I think you will continue to see this evolve for us,” she said.

Truro Police Chief Dave MacNeil said they’ve consciously decided to increase their use of social media to gather information.

“We’re always trying to find new and innovative ways to interact with the public. Social media, obviously, is a huge part of people’s daily lives, so for us not to get on board with that is ridiculous.”

Their Facebook page has 2,300 followers who can access information provided by a civilian dispatch supervisor who answers to a detective constable.

“We’ve been able to solve some crimes as a result of it,” he said.

In some cases, police have issued information about warrants online and then had those people turn themselves in.

“Some people just didn’t realize they had warrants until their friends told them they were on Facebook,” he said.

MacNeil said he hopes progress on small crimes chips away at some people’s reluctance to go to police.

“If people aren’t going to tolerate crime in their communities and they want to be part of the solution, then it starts with them providing information to the police.”

Slauenwhite and her family still share cake and memories each year on April 16 — Melissa’s birthday. They talk about the ways they miss her and how she made them laugh.

She and a friend plan to grow a garden in Melissa’s memory and the family home and car are decorated with many pictures of Melissa.

“It’s almost like when I go somewhere she comes with me. I want people to remember her and know that we’re still waiting on justice for her.”

She has no problem with having her daughter’s name — and the fact arrests have been made — included in Justice Department press releases whenever they add another name to the rewards program.

“It’s keeping her name out there,” she said. “I don’t want her to be remembered (only) as a 20-year-old that was murdered.”

Slauenwhite occasionally writes Facebook posts about her daughter, and is impressed by the support and reassurance she gets from friends, family and followers.

“The feedback is extremely positive. It’s uplifting.”

She’s optimistic police and justice workers can find new ways to get witnesses and others to co-operate in cases like hers.

“Sometimes you can start with something small that could lead to something larger. As long as justice is served in the end, I’ll wait as long as I have to.”